what makes a daddy?
by shel
Summary: phoebe’s wedding to dex may have been more bewitched than she thought…
1. part 1

**CHARMED **

**"What Makes a Daddy?"**

by shel

© october 2005

_disclaimer: the charmed ones, cole, and leo, and the rest of the cast of characters we've come to know and love, belong to spelling television, inc. and possible other copyright holders. i intended no true infringement on their copyrights; i only wanted to borrow these marvelous characters for a short time in my own scenarios and hopefully return them no worse for wear; the only things i've gained from this story are the satisfaction and pleasure of having written it and in knowing that others may have enjoyed it too…_

_rating: pg-13_

_summary: phoebe's wedding to dex may have been more bewitched than she thought…_

_timeline: begins immediately after the end of season 8's 'rewitched'…_

_archive: please don't without expressed permission…_

_notes: there is minor reference to s8's 'run, piper, run' and s7's 'seven year witch'…please let me know if you enjoyed my tale and why and, if not, why not…and, please, don't bother wasting your time or mine by sending any flames…_

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Part One **_

Phoebe sat on the floor with Dex's head in her lap wishing she'd known a better way to tell him that she and Julie, the woman he'd married, were one and the same. She glanced at the clock in his studio and began to worry. He'd been out for more than a few minutes but she remained as she was and simply continued caressing his cheek.

He came to with a start and practically leaped up from her arms. Despite the dizziness, he held out his hands warding her off as he lurched to a seat across the room and dropped into it, elbows on his knees, head hung down.

Hurt, Phoebe stayed in her spot on the floor and asked, "Should I go?"

He slowly lifted his head and looked in her direction. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am," she quietly replied with confusion. Had he hit his head when he fainted? Did he have amnesia?

"No I don't," he argued. "I never met you before you died. See," he said as he stood and stalked back across the room and towered over her, "I thought I knew Julie Bennett. Hell, I ended up marrying her, but you, Phoebe Halliwell, are suddenly alive and well and now telling me Julie doesn't even exist!"

"Of course she exists, she's me!" Phoebe exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet. She tried to reach for him and was stung by his slapping away of her hands. "Dex, please, let me explain."

"What's to explain?" he snapped. "You're not even human, why should I expect you to act like one?"

Tears filled her eyes, "That's not fair. You don't know --"

"You?" he interrupted. "You're right, I sure as hell don't and I don't want to either." He spun from her and demanded, "Leave me alone."

But Phoebe grabbed his arm and desperately said, "Not until I've told you everything. Once I do, I'll leave if that's what you still want. Just…please, hear me out."

He stood stiff, his back still to her, but acquiesced, "Make it fast."

Her mind raced as she wondered how to compress a complicated eight years into a simple statement that he would understand. She took a deep breath and found herself saying, "I'm a witch, Dex."

"That and its rhyme," he snorted to himself without turning around.

Telling herself he was upset and didn't mean it, Phoebe plunged into her explanation, "Eight years ago, my sisters and I discovered we had powers, magical powers. We were witches like our mother and grandmother before us. We were, are, the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches of our line and have used our powers to the best of our abilities to fight evil."

Dex finally turned to her in disbelief, "You've got powers and you fight evil? What, like some kind of superhero?"

"I suppose we are, in a way," she shrugged. "Look, you've seen me as Julie but that's just a small part of what I can do. I --"

"Can leap tall buildings in a single bound?"

"You're not even trying!" she cried. "You want to make rude remarks and hate me, fine, go ahead, but at least give me the courtesy of finishing first."

His mouth dropped open but he didn't speak. Instead, he waved his hand and indicated that she should continue.

She was still simmering and turned from him, hoping she would calm down before she spoke. She didn't want to lash out at him when she was the one who'd kept the secret and fooled him. "There is evil in this world, Dex. True evil. Evil you couldn't even possibly imagine. And I've seen it. I've lived it. I've lost my mother and my sister to it. But my sisters and I still fought for our innocents. We still fought for the greater good. But you can't do that without being changed. The losses start to weigh on us even greater than the successes and the sacrifices become too great. And we were tired. Last year, Zankou made it more personal than the Source ever did and it was the final straw. Killing ourselves was the only way we thought we could defeat him and, at the same time, free ourselves from the burden of being Charmed. But we didn't have time to think it all the way through. All we wanted was to escape and be normal, at least that's what we thought…"

Dex hadn't completely followed everything and remained quiet when Phoebe's voice trailed off. Looking at her from behind, he was struck by the notion of how small she seemed and how sad. And despite the fact that he still didn't understand her deception, he somehow knew she was telling the truth and had never meant to hurt him. He slowly approached and finally placed his hands on her shoulders. He felt her tense and, in a softer tone, asked her, "Why involve me? Was it just some stunt in your freedom of being normal?"

She shook her head but didn't speak. She wasn't sure how much more to confess. Did he really need to know about her premonition of marrying him? Would telling him make him understand or would it only make matters worse? "Meeting you was completely unexpected," she honestly told him as she finally turned around to face him. "But there was a connection and I wanted more. I thought you felt the same way."

"I did," he admitted, "but I told you before, I never met you, Phoebe, I mean. You were someone I admired and was sorry I didn't know but that's all. Everything I felt, the attraction, the…everything, it was all for Julie"

"Phoebe is Julie," Phoebe shrugged before she stepped away. "It's just that Julie isn't Phoebe."

"Oh, sure, that clears it up."

"It became so hard," she said as she hugged herself and wandered around the studio glancing at his sculptures. "The more I had to be Julie, the more I missed being Phoebe. I was Julie. It was me speaking and feeling. But when I was Julie I wasn't being completely true to myself, to Phoebe, and I realized that it wasn't enough. I needed to be Phoebe again. Both my sisters discovered the same thing about their new lives and, thanks to Agent Murphy, we're now free to be ourselves again." She turned back to him, "I'm sorry that doesn't make much sense to you and I'm sorry I hurt you and I know it's a lot to absorb so I'll go now. Maybe in a couple of days, when you're ready, we can talk again."

Dex watched her grab her bag and go to the door and did nothing to stop her. Until she opened it and glanced back at him and he found himself asking, "Was it real? The wedding, wanting to stay married, was any of it real?"

She nodded slowly and managed to whisper, "Yes. I never lied to you about that. I never lied to you about anything other than my name."

"And your powers," he reminded her.

"I told you I was psychic," she quietly said. "I knew you wouldn't take me seriously but I did tell you the truth."

"You're psychic," he scoffed. But when he saw her serious expression hadn't changed he realized she wasn't kidding. "You really saw that earthquake coming, the damage to my work? You can really see the future?"

Phoebe barely looked at him as she replied simply, "It's one of my powers."

"It's just that," he nervously twitched, "if magic was involved that day…Jul--Phoebe, I can remember everything before I came to pick you up and everything from the moment I brought you home. But I can't remember a damn thing about that afternoon."

"Neither can I," she warily admitted.

"And you still believe it happened for a reason." It wasn't so much a question as a statement of fact, one he wasn't sure he yet completely understood. "Are you sure you didn't have me under some magic spell?"

Her eyes widened in shock, "I would never do anything like that."

"Then why, after everything you've told me, why does it still feel like magic was involved that day?" he questioned. "Why does it feel like I was controlled and did something I never would have done on my own?"

"Does it matter?" she whispered as she realized he needed to know about the spell and would probably not react well.

His gaze narrowed on her and he knew he'd been right. "I was under a spell, wasn't I?"

She refused to give into her impulse to look away as she quietly confessed, "Billie was only trying to help me. She didn't know what she was doing and you have to believe that I had no idea until after we came back to the house already married."

Dex wasn't sure he could even breathe. "We were under a spell? Magic made us get married?"

"It wasn't all --"

But Dex kept going, "And that night? That night after we talked and you wanted to stay married, our wedding night, was that another one of this Billie's ways of helping you?"

"I don't understand," she shook her head, "what happened that night?"

He strode towards her and a part of him felt badly when she seemed to shrink back from him. He didn't mean to scare her but, at the moment, she was absolutely infuriating him and he had to make a conscious effort not to trap her between himself and the door. "You mean to tell me you didn't feel strange that night? You didn't have any visions?" He was surprised by her confused reaction. It seemed so genuine. "I need the truth, Phoebe. No more lies and deception."

"That night was wonderful," she hesitantly told him, unsure of whether her answer would satisfy him or not. "It was --"

"Then why did I have all these strange images in my head when we went to bed that night, images of you, not Julie?" he interrupted in disbelief. Magic had to have played another part in what happened. "Why did I feel like it wasn't even me being with you?"

"I don't understand," she uttered in concern. Could Billie's spell have had longer lasting effects than they first thought? "What do you mean you saw me as anything other than Julie?" Maybe the glamouring effect didn't hold during those extremely intimate moments, maybe because of what the night represented. "Why didn't you say something before?"

He stepped back from her when she stepped closer. "I don't know," he shook his head, "the whole day was so confusing and as confusing as it was that night, I couldn't help but feel that it was so…so right which, of course, only made it more confusing. And you didn't seem to feel that anything was wrong so I chalked it up to…Hell, I don't know…I don't know what I'm saying anymore…"

And all Phoebe could do was apologize again, "I never meant to hurt you, Dex, and I'll give you as much time as you need to work this out. But I want you to know, and believe, that when I first saw you, I never dreamed I'd end up being married to you but I care about you and I'm hoping you'll still give me, us, a chance." She impulsively kissed his cheek, "You know how to find me when you're ready."

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	2. part 2

_**Part Two**_

Phoebe stood outside Dex's door and took a deep breath before she knocked. Her heart pounded as she waited for him to answer. It had been three weeks since she'd last been there, last seen him, other than for an unexpected and uncomfortable elevator ride, and she was more than a bit worried as to how he'd react to seeing her now. Especially with the news she had to share.

"Phoebe…"

She was too nervous to smile and meekly asked, "Can I come in?"

"I thought you were giving me space," he muttered. But he immediately regretted his harsh tone when he saw her flinch. She was pale and looked as if she hadn't slept in days and he couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay?"

"Can I come in?" she requested again. "I, uh, I need to talk to you."

"Look, Phoebe," he cautiously said, "I'm sorry but I'm not ready yet. I can barely keep up with my work because I always end up thinking about what you told me and I still need time. I can't simply let it all --"

"Please," she desperately interrupted, "it will only take a minute. Please, Dex…"

He opened the door wider and reluctantly waved her inside. "Should I sit down? Isn't that what one does to prepare for hearing bad news?"

"It's not bad news," she shook her head, "at least I'm hoping it's not."

He exhaled slowly and suggested, "Then maybe you should just say whatever it is you have to say and get it over with."

Phoebe turned around to face him and took a deep breath and smiled, "I'm pregnant." But her smile quickly faded as his face flickered through varying degrees of negative emotions, ending with an angry frown. "Dex?"

"I almost believed you," he whispered harshly. "I almost believed you were caught up in a situation beyond your control and were doing the best you could."

"It's true." She reached out to touch his arm but he snapped it back and she worried, "What's wrong?"

"I was finally working it out in my head that I was caught up in something but that it could almost be something good," he seethed. "I was beginning to think that maybe you could teach me more about this magic of yours and that maybe this relationship could work, and now, now you tell me this?"

"I know it's a surprise but it's a wonderful one," she insisted.

"After your confession, I never thought you would have the audacity to lie to me again. I never thought you'd --"

"I haven't lied," she uttered in shock. "And I'd never lie about something like this."

"Then why are you here?" he snapped. "Because it's sure as hell not to tell me that I'm going to be a father."

"Of course it is," she nervously laughed, "who else would I tell?"

"The other man you're sleeping with," he exclaimed.

Incredulous at his accusation, she declared, "If there's one thing I am, Dex Lawson, is faithful to the man I'm with. I have not been with, nor thought of being with, another man since I met you and you are the father of this baby."

"Then you've just admitted you've used magic on me because," he informed her, "medical science says it's nearly impossible that I will ever father a child of my own."

Phoebe staggered back a step and whispered, "I don't understand."

"It's not that hard, really," he said. "I've known for years that I've got a very low sperm count and the only way I'll ever conceive a child of my own is through intervention."

"I didn't know," she whispered.

"There's a lot about me you don't know," he pointedly reminded her.

She felt her knees giving way and, as his arms quickly steadied her, she insisted, "Then it's a miracle, Dex. One we should both be very grateful for."

"I thought I had an open mind when it came to other worldly experiences but I'm sorry, Phoebe," he slowly released her, "but I think I've reached my limit. And I think you should go."

"We have to talk about this," she softly pleaded. "This isn't something that --"

"We can annul?" he interrupted. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that too," he admitted when her eyes widened in surprise, "and, now more than ever, I think it sounds like a good idea."

Phoebe stared at him and knew there'd be no reasoning with him now and, as she somehow made her way to the door, she commented dully, "Sure, Dex, you take care of the details and I'll make sure Julie's there to sign whatever…"

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Phoebe stared at the page before her but didn't see the words. She'd been reading from the Book of Shadows for hours and still hadn't found any magical explanation for her pregnancy. Dex was wrong. Just because he had a low sperm count didn't mean he could never be a father so it had to have been Billie's spell still at work. Because the only other explanation the Book was hinting at wasn't one she was anywhere near ready to accept. The pages began to flip and she pressed her hands down on top of them and leaned forward, "Stop it!"

"Pheebs?"

Phoebe glanced up and noticed her older sister standing in the doorway. She set the open Book to her side on the sofa but, when the pages flipped and stopped on the same page it had automatically flipped to before, she angrily slammed it shut.

"Pheebs," Piper rushed across the room, "what is it?"

But Phoebe couldn't talk about it and apologized, "It's two in the morning, did I wake you?"

Piper shook her head, "Bathroom break, something you're unfortunately going to learn all about now."

Phoebe looked down as she pressed a hand to her stomach, "But it's a good thing, right?"

Piper smiled and immediately sat at Phoebe's other side. She took Phoebe's hands in hers, "Of course it's a good thing. And I know Dex's reaction was a shock to you but --"

"I've never seen him like this," Phoebe interrupted in a sad tone. "He was so angry, Piper, and I didn't need any empathic power to feel the anger radiating off him."

"He was hurt and in shock," Piper reasoned. "Give him some time to adjust to the news. This is your little girl, Phoebe, the one you've been waiting for, praying for. This is supposed to be an exciting thrilling time for you."

"I know," Phoebe uttered in a tiny voice, "and I'm so happy…I really am…"

Piper brushed away a tear from Phoebe's cheek, "Then tell me why you're angry with the Book of Shadows."

"There's nothing," Phoebe whispered, "no sign of any spell or potion that might've made Dex more, you know…"

"Well you didn't get pregnant on your own," Piper lightly said, "so maybe it is just one of God's miracles."

"Dex doesn't seem to think so," Phoebe shook her head.

"Well, honey, given his medical history, he's had a bit of a shock and he still hasn't recovered from the last one," Piper rationalized. "A baby's a life-altering event especially when he seems to have resigned himself to the fact that it would never happen the old-fashioned way. He's gonna need time to work through all this. Try to be patient, he'll come around."

Phoebe shook her head again, "He doesn't believe me, doesn't trust me." She glanced at the Book, "I just wish there was something else in there." Something other than what the Book was trying to tell her.

"Well," Piper announced as she picked up the Book, "getting mad at the Book isn't the way to go." As she opened it, she looked up to the ceiling and asked, "Did you call up there for some help?" But just as Phoebe leaped forward as if to stop it, the pages began flipping and Piper grinned, "See?"

Phoebe couldn't look and squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't tell me," she requested.

And Piper didn't. She was too stunned to form words. She stared at the page and uttered, "I don't understand." The small strip of photos fluttered to the floor but Phoebe beat her to it in picking it up. "Pheebs, you haven't…I mean, you didn't…It can't be him…"

Phoebe stared at the photos, taken at a time of her greatest happiness, and gently tucked them back into their place in the spine of the Book which she now slid off of Piper's lap and back onto her own. She stared at his image, rather Belthazor's image, and couldn't stop the tears. "He's gone, Piper. He's been gone for almost three years. And I don't know why the Book keeps opening to his page. It's not like he has a soul that exists in this world to even interfere in my life anymore. And I…" She couldn't finish her thought. She needed to think about the baby and Dex, not about this man from her past. This man who had claimed more than her heart. And how could Piper understand when she didn't herself? That, despite all the anguish and the pain, she was afraid that a part of her heart still belonged to him, still missed him, still loved him? "Cole is gone," she repeated in a whisper. "He's not part of this and I don't know why the Book keeps haunting me with this but," she slammed the Book shut, "I can't afford to open up that part of my past, Piper. I can't think about it or I'll end up lost."

Shaken by her sister's words for reasons Phoebe didn't know, Piper wrung her hands and debated running downstairs and asking Leo for advice. But she'd never told him the complete truth that she hid from Phoebe, that Cole was still alive, so to speak. And she wasn't sure telling her sister now would be the best thing for Phoebe. "Pheebs, maybe you should go to bed. You haven't slept well the past few days and have had a bit of a shock yourself given Dex's reaction. Rest is the best thing for you right now, for the baby. Trust me, okay? Things will get better."

"I just don't understand," Phoebe whispered. "What if…"

"What if what?" Piper warily asked.

"What if Cole is somehow a part of this?" Phoebe could barely breathe as her mind raced with possibilities.

"That's, that's impossible," Piper stuttered. "You know that's impossible."

Phoebe leaned back and wearily closed her eyes, "Dex said something that I didn't understand until now because maybe that's what the Book is trying to explain. What if that's how it's all connected?" She opened her eyes to find Piper wearing a pensive expression and she said, "You're thinking I'm right."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Piper cautiously replied.

Phoebe explained her quickly forming theory, "Dex and I have no memories whatsoever of the day we were married when we were under the spell. But he told me that later that night he still felt odd and wanted to know if magic was involved because he didn't feel like himself and that he had strange images in his head of me as Phoebe and not as Julie. It sounded like he could've been possessed. What if Billie's spell…"

"C'mon, Pheebs," Piper nervously chuckled, "Billie's not that powerful that she can bring back the dead."

"I know," Phoebe almost wistfully commented, "but what if…I don't know, Piper, what if Cole was somehow there that night? It would explain why Dex felt he was someone else but why it felt so right being with me. And it might explain the images he saw."

"What kind of images?"

Phoebe shrugged, "I kind of got sidetracked and didn't ask but what if they were images of me through Cole's eyes, his memories?"

Piper shook her head free of those thoughts, "The important thing, Phoebe, is that you're pregnant and Dex is the father and the two of you are going to have to be patient with each other and put that little baby first."

"But what if Cole's the father?" There, she'd said it. The one thing she feared since the Book first opened to his page. "What if Cole somehow came back and he's the reason I'm pregnant?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Piper exclaimed. "You slept with Dex and only Dex."

Phoebe stared at the Book, "Did I?" Suddenly she stood and placed the Book back on its stand and stared at it, "There has to be a reason why the Book keeps flipping to Cole's page. And I haven't been able to come up with anything else."

"You're tired," Piper told her. "You need some sleep. Things will look better in the morning and maybe we'll contact Grams to see what's up with the Book."

Phoebe sighed, crossed back to her sister, and kissed Piper's cheek, "You're probably right. Thank you, sweetie, I love you and I'm sorry for keeping you up at all hours of the night with my problems."

Piper smiled with complete assurance, "I'm your big sister and it's my job. Now, get to bed."

"Yes, ma'am," Phoebe smiled.

Relieved that the smile didn't seem forced, Piper nodded and wished her, "Sweet dreams."

Phoebe paused in the doorway when she realized Piper wasn't following her, "Aren't you going back to bed?"

"In a minute," Piper nodded, "there's something I want to try first and I know if I don't do it now I probably won't remember in the morning."

"Well don't be too long," Phoebe smiled tiredly. "I'm not the only one who needs a good night's sleep."

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"This had better work," Piper muttered, "because I'm not killing myself to get this done." She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before she recited the spell she'd created. And then she waited. And waited. And, after nearly an hour, was finally rewarded with his appearance.

"You rang?"

"Unless you want to be vanquished in a more painful and permanent way," she warned, "I suggest you choose your next words very carefully."

"Piper, as sunny as always."

"It's three in the morning and I'm not playing games, Cole," she threatened. "I want the truth and I don't need Phoebe's power to know if you're telling it."

He considered her words with a smirk, "And I am, as always, intrigued. Life with the Halliwells is always an adventure and I've a feeling this one won't disappoint."

But she wasn't in the mood to exchange witty barbs and angrily blurted out, "Did you or did you not get Phoebe pregnant?"

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	3. part 3

_**Part Three**_

It had been nearly three weeks since Piper had called him and he finally accepted the fact that he needed to talk to Phoebe. And so he stood in Phoebe's dark bedroom and watched her sleep. She was snuggling a pillow under the covers and, when he closed his eyes, he could picture himself being the one she was snuggled against instead of that pillow. He smiled but when he opened his eyes he forced himself to look at her objectively.

And what he saw only caused him to frown with worry. She seemed so much smaller, so much younger, and so much sadder in her sleep. At least that was how he felt. All the efforts he'd put into saving Piper's relationship with Leo in order to spare Phoebe a fate in limbo seemed to have been for naught because he looked at Phoebe now and felt her slipping away.

"Did Dex hurt you that badly," he whispered, "or is it still because of me?" He suddenly found himself sitting on the bed facing her. And his hand moved independently as it lightly swept some hair from her eyes. And when she murmured unintelligibly into the pillow, he called her name, "Phoebe…"

She shifted position but didn't waken and he frowned slightly because, from what Piper had said, she needed her rest and this wouldn't be an easy conversation for her to have. Unfortunately he didn't have the luxury of letting more time pass so he called her name again. He caressed her cheek and couldn't stop himself in time from leaning forward and kissing her gently on the lips.

She smiled as she felt the warm familiar sensations upon her face and slowly opened her eyes. He looked back at her with such love that she nearly cried. She reached up and traced his lips with her finger and sleepily told him, "I love you but I need to sleep right now." She closed her eyes and frowned with annoyance when he called her name again. "I'll make it up to you," she drowsily promised.

"Honey, you have to wake up. We need to talk." Cole sat back and watched as Phoebe truly wakened. And when she shot up in bed and scrambled back against her headboard, clutching the pillow in front of her, he tried to hide his disappointment as he calmly tried to assure her, "I'm not here to hurt you."

"You, you, you can't be here," she exclaimed. "You're, you're gone. You don't exist."

"Not in your realm," he quietly told her. He'd practiced this speech a thousand times before when he nearly gave into temptation to see her and her reaction was about as he'd imagined. "And I can't come back here, at least not for more than brief amounts of time. I'm not alive, Phoebe, and I'm not a ghost. I just am."

But she couldn't stop herself from trembling, "You're what? What are you? How are you here?"

"I exist in a realm of limbo," he explained, "and I'm here because Piper called me."

"Limbo?" Confusion gave way to anger as Phoebe understood what he'd implied. She practically threw the pillow away from her and repeated, "Limbo? Limbo as in being an old friend to help Piper, limbo?" When he nodded, she didn't think and simply reacted by quickly leaping forward and slapping him hard across his cheek.

"I suppose I deserved that," he quietly commented as he covered the sting with his hand. But when he looked at Phoebe, he saw the shock taking over and he inched towards her and slowly reached for her hand that was now covering her open mouth. She barely reacted and he was more worried by the way her eyes had widened and she barely seemed to be breathing. Carefully pulling her close, he slowly wrapped his arms around her and told her, "I never meant to hurt you. I only wanted to love you, for us to love each other. But I made a lot of terrible mistakes along the way and I know you can't forgive me for much of it but I hope you'll --"

"You're here?"

Her voice was muffled by his chest and he nearly missed the whispered question. He looked down and kissed the top of her head, "I'm scared for you, Phoebe. I'm scared because I feel you slipping away and I don't know how to save you."

"I don't understand," she uttered as she kept her eyes tightly shut and tried not to relax in his arms. Because if she did, if she let him in again, she might never recover from losing him.

He gently pried her loose and nearly smiled when he realized she didn't know that her arms were wrapped so tightly around his waist. Sliding his hands to her cheeks, he informed her about his place in limbo and how he was now meant to help those who were on their way to being lost forever.

"Am I lost?" she asked in a daze as she kept staring into his eyes. All she saw reflected back was love. There was no hint of the demon or the madman he once was. "Are you real?"

"For the moment," he admitted. "But I told you, I can't stay long in this world and I need you to understand what happened that night, that magic was involved but that it wasn't evil or wrong."

She didn't understand at first but as her mind began clearing she slowly pulled back from his touch. "I'm married," she told him.

"I know."

"It's my fault really," she continued, "because I put so much effort into making that premonition a reality. I had a premonition of being married that turned out to be the result of a spell and I never should've thought of making it work. I forced it to be something it wasn't and now we're all paying the price."

"How is having a baby paying a price?" he thoughtfully asked before gazing at her belly that was hidden behind the oversized nightshirt she wore. "You've waited for this baby for a long time, Phoebe. Why can't you let the rest go?"

"Because," she reached for the pillow and clutched it in front of her, "it wasn't real. It was all part of the spell. That's why you're here, isn't it, to tell me that magic created this baby I'm carrying?"

"You and Dex created that baby," he claimed. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Are you denying you were there?" she boldly questioned. "Because that's the only explanation I came up with. You were there Cole in Dex's body. He saw me through your eyes and he felt what you felt and my wedding night was as much yours as it was Dex's."

He didn't speak for a long moment and finally nodded, "I had no idea what happened. One minute I was helping a poor soul decide that suicide wasn't the answer and the next I was in bed with a beautiful woman who I knew to be you."

"You saw through the glamouring?"

"I saw through to your soul," he clarified. "You can't hide it from me, Phoebe. You never could. But now, being in limbo, now I'm connected to you in a way I never was before. I don't interfere, I promise you that, but I do worry about you."

"You have interfered," she accused without bitterness. "You said so yourself."

"Because your soul was on the line," he answered without apology. "But that night I had no control and I couldn't, no, I wouldn't, hurt you by confiding in you the truth. You were happy, confused but happy, and I didn't want to ruin that for you."

"It doesn't matter because it's over," she shrugged. "Dex finally believes that he's going to be a daddy but he's too hurt and, as soon as this baby's born, he's going ahead with the divorce."

Cole tenderly wiped away a tear from her cheek and tried not to smile when she unknowingly leaned into his palm. "He'll do right by this child, Phoebe. He's a good man." She shrugged but didn't speak and he asked, "Are you okay, physically, I mean."

She nodded, "This pregnancy couldn't be going any better." She looked back at him, "What about you, Cole?"

"I've made my peace with how I lived my life," he acknowledged, "and I am willing to do the atonement I need."

"That's not what I mean." For the first time, he seemed confused and she spelled it out for him, "I mean by this baby. Will you do right by this baby?"

"I have nothing to do with this baby," he quietly said. "As much as I wish…Phoebe, I need to know you're okay. That's why I came back. I need to know that you're thinking clearly and that you've got hope for the future."

"Hope?" Tears stung her eyes, "Of course I've got hope for the future." She pushed aside the pillow and grabbed his hand and, before he could pull it away, she pressed it to her small bump. He wouldn't feel anything, the baby was to small for that, but she smiled for him anyway, "Do you feel that? That is our hope for the future. She's as much yours as she is Dex's because she was created with love, your love, our love."

"You, you didn't know…" But Cole couldn't bring himself to remove his hand as he wished desperately to believe her.

"Maybe not," she acknowledged, "but the love you felt for me that night had been something I shared with you in those memories. Our love was real…" She gazed into his eyes and hesitantly added, "And still is."

"What are you saying?" he asked in a choked voice.

"I'm saying," she cleared her own throat, "that maybe now I can finally admit to myself that I will always treasure the love we had, Cole. And that when I look at this baby, I will know that there's a part of me that will always love you."

Too stunned to say anything more than, "Thank you," Cole found himself fading from her bed.

"We're not finished, Cole," she warned him before he disappeared completely, "not by a long shot." And with a relieved smile, she settled back under the covers and, for the first time in weeks, slept with the knowledge that everything would turn out fine after all.

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	4. part 4

_**Part Four**_

_**Five Years Later…**_

"But what if he tries to take me away?"

He immediately pulledthe worried brown-haired little girlwho was the spitting image of her mother into his arms. "He won't, sweetheart. He's your --"

"Bilolical daddy," she interrupted.

"Biological," he corrected with a smile.

"I know, Mommy told me," she impatiently told him. "But Nancy's bilolical daddy came last week and he took her away to his house and she won't be back for a whole 'nother month..."

"This isn't the same thing," he patiently explained. "I'm not the same as Nancy's other daddy and you know why."

"Because you're magic and a secret," she nodded as she scrambled out of his arms and reached for the book on her bedside table. "Read to me again, Daddy."

Amazed how fast his daughter could process from one topicto the next, he sighed, "I've read that one to you half-a-dozen times already." Sure, the little pig was cute but how many times could he read about her adventures in the circus. But one look at his daughter's watery eyes melted his heart to a pile of goo and he took the book and sighed again, "Get under the covers." And, as soon as she complied, he shifted position and leaned back against the fluffy pink headboard. He smiled whenher small body snuggled next to his and he opened the book and began to read.

"I love you, Daddy," she interrupted.

"I love you too, sweetheart," he replied in a choked voice.

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Phoebe stood in the doorway and watched the scene with a sad smile. It was growing harder and harder for her to move on with her life when she lived for his visits. As if he knew she was there, he glanced up at her and held a finger to his lips so she simply held out her hand to him and waited for him to extricate himself from their daughter's embrace to come to her side. And, when he did, she silently enfolded herself in his arms.

"It'll be okay, Phoebe..."

"I love you, y'know," she quietly said, worried she didn't tell him often enough.

"I know," he smiled before he kissed the top of her head.

"It's working, isn't it," she murmured, "raising her, the three of us, I mean."

"I told you Dex was a good man," he reminded her.

She nodded, "Even if it did take him six months to visit after she was born, after I told him about your involvement."

"Even a good man needs some time to process a shock like that," he considered.

"You're a good man, too," she whispered. She rubbed his back and gazed up at him to tease, "Not even Dex could read that story to her seven times in two hours."

He chuckled and squeezed her tighter. "I love you, Phoebe."

"Daddy?"

Phoebe knocked her head against Cole's chest. "No more stories," she told her daughter. "It's already way past your bedtime."

But Cole was already moving towards his daughter, "What is it Hope? Did you have a bad dream?"

The little girl shook her head. "Can I have a baby sister?"

Phoebe thought her heart stopped, "What?"

"Can I have a baby sister?" she repeated.

They'd simplified the origins of Hope's conception for the little girl and Phoebe was clueless as to how to tell her daughter her request would be impossible to grant. She looked to Cole for guidance but he seemed just as lost. Until something sparked in his eyes and she warily stepped back. "Cole…you can't be thinking what I think you're thinking."

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking," he suddenly grinned, "then I'm thinking it can't be that bad an idea."

"It's a terrible idea," she exclaimed. "Dex is a good man and a good father and I will not use him like that."

"What's the harm, Phoebe," he considered as he tugged her hand and pulled her closer. "Dex is coming to town to spend time with his daughter and will naturally want to spend some time with you. A little music, a little wine, who's to say miracles can't happen twice?"

"We are so not doing this," she hissed so as not to upset their daughter, "we are not even thinking about doing this."

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	5. epilogue

_**Epilogue…**_

_**Nine Months Later…**_

"I wanted a baby sister," Hope pouted from the foot of Phoebe's hospital bed.

"Well, my ladybug," Phoebe smiled as she cuddled her newborn son, "sometimes we don't get what we wish for."

"And sometimes we do…"

Startled by his sudden appearance, Phoebe smiled and carefully held out her son to the man he would, like his sister, call Daddy. "Because you are," she whispered aloud, "because it doesn't take DNA to make a daddy."

Cole glanced at the family he never dared dream would ever be possible and slowly sat down on the bed next to Phoebe. He gently pushed aside the blanket hiding his son's face and gazed at the baby for the first time. "He looks like Dex."

"Does it matter?" she worried even as her daughter crawled into her lap and caused her some discomfort.

He shook his head, "Because Dex will love this boy as much as he loves Hope and because you're right…"

"Be still my aching heart," she teased as she rested her head against his arm.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "Because DNA doesn't make a daddy."

"No," she agreed snuggling closer to the man she loved, "it takes love."

_**The End**_


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